GLORIA Hotels & Resorts is planning to open a sales and reservations office in Chengdu and beef up its Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing operations to cope with continued expansion in Asia.
Explaining the Chengdu move, Willie Ooi, executive vice president, said there is a huge developing market around the south-western region, describing it as an influential market.
Gloria’s portfolio comprises 43 hotels in China, Japan and Malaysia, with 27 more due to open over the next 36 months, and another 18 under negotiation.
New brand GtEL, a mid-tier business product, has opened in Qingdao, Ooi said, and will also enter Nyingchi in Tibet, Luotian, Hubei, and Changsha. Franchising will be part of GtEL’s development.
“This mid-tier business hotel concept is appearing to be a very viable product given the challenges in the Chinese market today, with the government clamping down on extravagant spending,” Ooi noted.
“It is not a budget hotel product and it is also not a first-class product, but sandwiched in-between.
“The growing middle-class have, by and large experienced staying in a budget hotel and would like to upgrade to slightly better-grade hotels.
“This growing trend is real and huge and I intend to grow this product over the next 24 months.
“But it needs a bit of fine-tuning over the next six to 10 months,” he commented.
Meanwhile, Gloria took over management of the Swan Garden by Gloria, Melaka, Malaysia in January and will be spreading its management expertise into the Malaysian market over the next 24 months with another three to four hotels.
Ooi said: “I found in my negotiations with owners in Malaysia, they are all keen to grab a piece of the huge Chinese outbound market.”
